Shakespeare Lexicon and Quotation Dictionary, Vol. 2

By Chris Grabenstein

Book Overview

In more than 300 years of Shakespearean scholarship, only one book, the famous Shakespeare Lexicon and Quotation Dictionary, has investigated the meaning of every word that Shakespeare wrote. The lifetime work of Professor Alexander Schmidt of Königsberg, this book has long been the indispensable companion for every person seriously interested in Shakespeare, Renaissance poetry and prose of any sort, or English literature. It is really two important books in one. Schmidt's set contains every single word that Shakespeare used, not simply words that have changed their meaning since the seventeenth century, but every word in all the accepted plays and the poems. Covering both quartos and folios, it carefully distinguishes between shades of meaning for each word and provides exact definitions, plus governing phrases and locations, down to the numbered line of the Cambridge edition of Shakespeare. There is no other word dictionary comparable to this work. Even more useful to the general reader, however, is the incredible wealth of exact quotations. Arranged under the words of the quotation itself (hence no need to consult confusing subject classifications) are more than 50,000 exact quotations. Each is precisely located, so that you can easily refer back to the plays or poems themselves, if you wish context. Other features helpful to the scholar are appendixes on basic grammatical observations, a glossary of provincialisms, a list of words and sentences taken from foreign languages, a list of words that form the latter part of word-combinations. This third edition features a supplement with new findings.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486227278
• ISBN13: 9780486227276
• Release Date: June 1971
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 736 Pages
• Weight: 2.19 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.5" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Great and useful book...

We all know that Shakespeare is another language :).... this incredible dictionary explains every word and gives you other contents in which it was used in different Shakespeare plays... I think it is very useful to have at least one Shakespeare dictionary in the house and this book is excellent! Olga Vidisheva www.olgavidisheva.com

Remains an excellent tool

I assign a higher rating to Schmidt's lexicon than to C.T. Onions's *Shakespeare Glossary* (which I have also reviewed) for the reason that, although both compendiums by now do show their age, Schmidt's two volumes (one of course needs N-Z with this one) are all in all in many ways more comprehensive and informative than Onions's single-volume work (even after its updating by Eagleson). Readers of Shakespeare should NOT assume...

The Best, most useful guide to the language of the Bard ...

This is, simply, the essential, definitive guide to the Bards language. Almost every word in every Shakespearean play is here, and instead of having to guess what the meaning is in relation to the play, each word is listed by play and meaning in each heading. It can even be used for other lexiconic purposes is you're having trouble trying to figure out what Shaw means in one of his passages from "Saint Joan", or Ibsen in...

The Next best thing to having the Bard next to you . . .

This is, simply, the essential, definitive guide to the Bards language. Almost every word in every Shakespearean play is here, and instead of having to guess what the meaning is in relation to the play, each word is listed by play and meaning in each heading. It can even be used for other lexiconic purposes is you're having trouble trying to figure out what Shaw means in one of his passages from "Saint Joan", or Ibsen in...

invaluable reference!!!

If you're reading or performing Shakespeare, this reference is absolutely invaluable. It defines for you the words you have no clue about, as well as shedding light on the words you thought you knew. The English in Shakespeare's canon is centuries if not worlds different from our own. For example, if a character refers to another character as a friend, you'd think you understand, right? Well, in this book you'll find that...